Downlink assignments for downlink control channels

ABSTRACT

Apparatuses, methods, and systems are disclosed for downlink assignments for downlink control channels. One method includes determining a third set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions that comprises first downlink control channel monitoring occasions and second downlink control channel monitoring occasions, and associated search spaces correspond to two different control resource sets comprising a first control resource set and a second control resource set, wherein: demodulation reference signal ports of the first control resource set are quasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals; demodulation reference signal ports of the second control resource set are quasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals. The method includes monitoring one or more downlink control channel candidates in at least one slot of the third set of monitoring occasions if the one or more downlink control channel candidates carry the same downlink control information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.62/716,894 entitled “APPARATUSES, METHODS, AND SYSTEMS FOR ENHANCINGDOWNLINK COMMUNICATION RELIABILITY” and filed on Aug. 9, 2018 forHossein Bagheri, which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

FIELD

The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wirelesscommunications and more particularly relates to downlink assignments fordownlink control channels.

BACKGROUND

The following abbreviations are herewith defined, at least some of whichare referred to within the following description: Third GenerationPartnership Project (“3GPP”), 4^(th) Generation (“4G”), 5^(th)Generation (“5G”), 5G System (“5GS”), Positive-Acknowledgment (“ACK”),Aggregation Level (“AL”), Access and Mobility Management Function(“AMF”), Access Network (“AN”), Access Point (“AP”), AuthenticationServer Function (“AUSF”), Beam Failure Detection (“BFD”), Binary PhaseShift Keying (“BPSK”), Base Station (“BS”), Buffer Status Report(“BSR”), Bandwidth (“BW”), Bandwidth Part (“BWP”), Carrier Aggregation(“CA”), Contention-Based Random Access (“CBRA”), Clear ChannelAssessment (“CCA”), Control Channel Element (“CCE”), Cyclic DelayDiversity (“CDD”), Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”), ControlElement (“CE”), Contention-Free Random Access (“CFRA”), Closed-Loop(“CL”), Coordinated Multipoint (“CoMP”), Cyclic Prefix (“CP”), CyclicalRedundancy Check (“CRC”), Channel State Information (“CSP”), ChannelState Information-Reference Signal (“CSI-RS”), Common Search Space(“CSS”), Control Resource Set (“CORESET”), Device-to-Device (“D2D”),Discrete Fourier Transform Spread (“DFTS”), Downlink Control Information(“DCI”), Downlink (“DL”), Demodulation Reference Signal (“DMRS”), DataRadio Bearer (“DRB”), Discontinuous Reception (“DRX”), Downlink PilotTime Slot (“DwPTS”), Enhanced Clear Channel Assessment (“eCCA”), EPSConnection Management (“ECM”), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (“eMBB”),Evolved Node B (“eNB”), Effective Isotropic Radiated Power (“EIRP”),European Telecommunications Standards Institute (“ETSI”), Evolved PacketCore (“EPC”), Evolved Packet System (“EPS”), Evolved UniversalTerrestrial Access (“E-UTRA”), Evolved Universal Terrestrial AccessNetwork (“E-UTRAN”), Frame Based Equipment (“FBE”), Frequency DivisionDuplex (“FDD”), Frequency Division Multiplexing (“FDM”), FrequencyDivision Multiple Access (“FDMA”), Frequency Division Orthogonal CoverCode (“FD-OCC”), 5G Node B or Next Generation Node B (“gNB”), GeneralPacket Radio Services (“GPRS”), Guard Period (“GP”), Global System forMobile Communications (“GSM”), Globally Unique Temporary UE Identifier(“GUTI”), Home AMF (“hAMF”), Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (“HARQ”),Home Location Register (“HLR”), Home PLMN (“HPLMN”), Home SubscriberServer (“HSS”), Identity or Identifier (“ID”), Information Element(“IE”), Industrial IoT (“IIoT”), International Mobile Equipment Identity(“IMEI”), International Mobile Subscriber Identity (“IMSI”),International Mobile Telecommunications (“IMT”), Internet-of-Things(“IoT”), Layer 2 (“L2”), Licensed Assisted Access (“LAA”), Load BasedEquipment (“LBE”), Listen-Before-Talk (“LBT”), Logical Channel (“LCH”),Logical Channel Prioritization (“LCP”), Log-Likelihood Ratio (“LLR”),Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), Multiple Access (“MA”), Medium AccessControl (“MAC”), Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services (“MBMS”),Modulation Coding Scheme (“MCS”), Master Information Block (“MIB”),Multiple Input Multiple Output (“MIMO”), Mobility Management (“MM”),Mobility Management Entity (“MME”), Mobile Network Operator (“MNO”),massive MTC (“mMTC”), Maximum Power Reduction (“MPR”), Machine TypeCommunication (“MTC”), Multiple TRPs (“multi-TRPs”), Multi User SharedAccess (“MUSA”), Non Access Stratum (“NAS”), Narrowband (“NB”),Negative-Acknowledgment (“NACK”) or (“NAK”), Network Entity (“NE”),Network Function (“NF”), Next Generation RAN (“NG-RAN”), Non-OrthogonalMultiple Access (“NOMA”), New Radio (“NR”), Network Repository Function(“NRF”), Network Slice Instance (“NSI”), Network Slice SelectionAssistance Information (“NSSAI”), Network Slice Selection Function(“NSSF”), Network Slice Selection Policy (“NSSP”), Operation andMaintenance System (“OAM”), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing(“OFDM”), Open-Loop (“OL”), Other System Information (“OSI”), PowerAngular Spectrum (“PAS”), Physical Broadcast Channel (“PBCH”), PowerControl (“PC”), LTE-to-V2X Interface (“PC5”), Primary Cell (“PCell”),Policy Control Function (“”PCF”), Physical Cell ID (“PCID”), PhysicalDownlink Control Channel (“PDCCH”), Packet Data Convergence Protocol(“PDCP”), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (“PDSCH”), Pattern DivisionMultiple Access (“PDMA”), Packet Data Unit (“PDU”), Physical Hybrid ARQIndicator Channel (“PHICH”), Power Headroom (“PH”), Power HeadroomReport (“PHR”), Physical Layer (“PHY”), Public Land Mobile Network(“PLMN”), Physical Random Access Channel (“PRACH”), Physical ResourceBlock (“PRB”), Primary Secondary Cell (“PSCell”), Physical UplinkControl Channel (“PUCCH”), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (“PUSCH”),Quasi Co-Located or Quasi Co-Location (“QCL”), Quality of Service(“QoS”), Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (“QPSK”), Registration Area(“RA”), Radio Access Network (“RAN”), Radio Access Technology (“RAT”),Random Access Channel (“RACH”), Random Access Preamble Identity(“RAPID”), Random Access Response (“RAR”), Resource Block (“RB”),Resource Element Group (“REG”), Radio Link Control (“RLC”), Radio LinkMonitoring (“RLM”), Radio Network Temporary Identifier (“RNTI”),Reference Signal or Reference Signals (“RS”), Remaining Minimum SystemInformation (“RMSI”), Radio Resource Control (“RRC”), Radio ResourceManagement (“RRM”), Resource Spread Multiple Access (“RSMA”), ReferenceSignal Received Power (“RSRP”), Round Trip Time (“RTT”), Receive (“RX”),Sparse Code Multiple Access (“SCMA”), Scheduling Request (“SR”),Sounding Reference Signal (“SRS”), Single Carrier Frequency DivisionMultiple Access (“SC-FDMA”), Secondary Cell (“SCell”), Shared Channel(“SCH”), Sub-carrier Spacing (“SCS”), Service Data Unit (“SDU”), SystemInformation Block (“SIB”), SystemInformationBlockType1 (“SIB1”),SystemInformationBlockType2 (“SIB2”), Subscriber Identity/IdentificationModule (“SIM”), Signal-to-Interference-Plus-Noise Ratio (“SINR”),Service Level Agreement (“SLA”), Session Management Function (“SMF”),Special Cell (“SpCell”), Single Network Slice Selection AssistanceInformation (“S-NSSAI”), Shortened TTI (“sTTI”), Synchronization Signal(“SS”), Synchronization Signal Block (“SSB”), Supplementary Uplink(“SUL”), Subscriber Permanent Identifier (“SUPI”), Tracking Area (“TA”),TA Indicator (“TAI”), Transport Block (“TB”), Transport Block Size (“TBS”), Transmission Configuration Indicator (“TCI”), Time-Division Duplex(“TDD”), Time Division Multiplex (“TDM”), Time Division Orthogonal CoverCode (“TD-OCC”), Transmission Power Control (“TPC”), TransmissionReception Point (“TRP”), Transmission Time Interval (“TTI”), Transmit(“TX”), Uplink Control Information (“UCI”), Unified Data ManagementFunction (“UDM”), Unified Data Repository (“UDR”), User Entity/Equipment(Mobile Terminal) (“UE”), Universal Integrated Circuit Card (“UICC”),Uplink (“UL”), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), UserPlane (“UP”), Uplink Pilot Time Slot (“UpPTS”), Ultra-reliability andLow-latency Communications (“URLLC”), UE Route Selection Policy(“URSP”), LTE Radio Interface (“Uu”), Vehicle-To-Everything (“V2X”),Visiting AMF (“vAMF”), Visiting NSSF (“vNSSF”), Visiting PLMN (“VPLMN”),Interconnecting Interface (“X2”) (“Xn”), and Worldwide Interoperabilityfor Microwave Access (“WiMAX”).

In certain wireless communications networks, downlink data may bereceived. In such networks, the downlink data may be received on adownlink channel.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Methods for downlink assignments for downlink control channels aredisclosed. Apparatuses and systems also perform the functions of theapparatus. One embodiment of a method includes monitoring a firstdownlink control channel candidate associated with scheduling a firstdownlink data channel in a first control resource set. In certainembodiments, the method includes monitoring a second downlink controlchannel candidate associated with scheduling a second downlink datachannel in a second control resource set, wherein the first controlresource set comprises a first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second control resource set comprises asecond set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols. Invarious embodiments, the method includes receiving at least one downlinkassignment associated with the first downlink control channel candidateor the second downlink control channel candidate. In some embodiments,the method includes, in response to the at least one downlink assignmentcomprising a first downlink assignment associated with the firstdownlink control channel candidate: determining a first downlink datachannel allocation comprising resources allocated to a first downlinkdata channel based on the first downlink assignment; determining a firstdemodulation reference signal symbol location associated with the firstdownlink data channel based at least in part on the first downlinkassignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and decoding the first downlink data channel. Incertain embodiments, the method includes, in response to the at leastone downlink assignment comprising a second downlink assignmentassociated with the second downlink control channel candidate:determining a second downlink data channel allocation comprisingresources allocated to a second downlink data channel based on thesecond downlink assignment; determining a second demodulation referencesignal symbol location associated with the second downlink data channelbased at least in part on the second downlink assignment, the first setof orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the secondset of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decodingthe second downlink data channel.

One apparatus for downlink assignments for downlink control channelsincludes a processor that: monitors a first downlink control channelcandidate associated with scheduling a first downlink data channel in afirst control resource set; and monitors a second downlink controlchannel candidate associated with scheduling a second downlink datachannel in a second control resource set, wherein the first controlresource set comprises a first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second control resource set comprises asecond set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols. Insome embodiments, the apparatus includes a receiver that receives atleast one downlink assignment associated with the first downlink controlchannel candidate or the second downlink control channel candidate. Invarious embodiments, in response to the at least one downlink assignmentcomprising a first downlink assignment associated with the firstdownlink control channel candidate, the processor: determines a firstdownlink data channel allocation comprising resources allocated to afirst downlink data channel based on the first downlink assignment;determines a first demodulation reference signal symbol locationassociated with the first downlink data channel based at least in parton the first downlink assignment, the first set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the second set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decodes thefirst downlink data channel; and, in response to the at least onedownlink assignment comprising a second downlink assignment associatedwith the second downlink control channel candidate, the processor:determines a second downlink data channel allocation comprisingresources allocated to a second downlink data channel based on thesecond downlink assignment; determines a second demodulation referencesignal symbol location associated with the second downlink data channelbased at least in part on the second downlink assignment, the first setof orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the secondset of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decodesthe second downlink data channel.

Another embodiment of a method for downlink assignments for downlinkcontrol channels includes receiving a first indication comprising afirst search space identity and a second search space identity, whereinthe first search space identity and the second search space identity arefor a set of associated search spaces comprising a first search spaceand a second search space. In certain embodiments, the method includesdetermining a first set of downlink control channel monitoring occasionsfor the first search space. In various embodiments, the method includesdetermining a second set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions for the second search space. In some embodiments, the methodincludes determining a third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces, wherein thethird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions comprises asubset of the first downlink control channel monitoring occasions andthe second set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions, theassociated search spaces correspond to two different control resourcesets comprising a first control resource set and a second controlresource set, and wherein: demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set are quasi-collocated with a first set ofreference signals; demodulation reference signal ports of the secondcontrol resource set are quasi-collocated with a second set of referencesignals; and the first set of reference signals and the second set ofreference signals are different. In certain embodiments, the methodincludes monitoring one or more downlink control channel candidates inat least one slot of the third set of monitoring occasions if the one ormore downlink control channel candidates carry the same downlink controlinformation.

Another apparatus for downlink assignments for downlink control channelsincludes a receiver that receives a first indication comprising a firstsearch space identity and a second search space identity, wherein thefirst search space identity and the second search space identity are fora set of associated search spaces comprising a first search space and asecond search space. In some embodiments, the apparatus includes aprocessor that: determines a first set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions for the first search space; determines a second setof downlink control channel monitoring occasions for the second searchspace; determines a third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces, wherein thethird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions comprises asubset of the first downlink control channel monitoring occasions andthe second set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions, theassociated search spaces correspond to two different control resourcesets comprising a first control resource set and a second controlresource set, and wherein: demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set are quasi-collocated with a first set ofreference signals; demodulation reference signal ports of the secondcontrol resource set are quasi-collocated with a second set of referencesignals; and the first set of reference signals and the second set ofreference signals are different; and monitors one or more downlinkcontrol channel candidates in at least one slot of the third set ofmonitoring occasions if the one or more downlink control channelcandidates carry the same downlink control information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more particular description of the embodiments briefly described abovewill be rendered by reference to specific embodiments that areillustrated in the appended drawings. Understanding that these drawingsdepict only some embodiments and are not therefore to be considered tobe limiting of scope, the embodiments will be described and explainedwith additional specificity and detail through the use of theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of awireless communication system for downlink assignments for downlinkcontrol channels;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of anapparatus that may be used for downlink assignments for downlink controlchannels;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of anapparatus that may be used for transmitting and/or receiving data and/orinformation;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of afirst search space;

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of asecond search space;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a methodfor downlink assignments for downlink control channels; and

FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of amethod for downlink assignments for downlink control channels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of theembodiments may be embodied as a system, apparatus, method, or programproduct. Accordingly, embodiments may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,embodiments may take the form of a program product embodied in one ormore computer readable storage devices storing machine readable code,computer readable code, and/or program code, referred hereafter as code.The storage devices may be tangible, non-transitory, and/ornon-transmission. The storage devices may not embody signals. In acertain embodiment, the storage devices only employ signals foraccessing code.

Certain of the functional units described in this specification may belabeled as modules, in order to more particularly emphasize theirimplementation independence. For example, a module may be implemented asa hardware circuit comprising custom very-large-scale integration(“VLSI”) circuits or gate arrays, off-the-shelf semiconductors such aslogic chips, transistors, or other discrete components. A module mayalso be implemented in programmable hardware devices such as fieldprogrammable gate arrays, programmable array logic, programmable logicdevices or the like.

Modules may also be implemented in code and/or software for execution byvarious types of processors. An identified module of code may, forinstance, include one or more physical or logical blocks of executablecode which may, for instance, be organized as an object, procedure, orfunction. Nevertheless, the executables of an identified module need notbe physically located together, but may include disparate instructionsstored in different locations which, when joined logically together,include the module and achieve the stated purpose for the module.

Indeed, a module of code may be a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may even be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across several memory devices.Similarly, operational data may be identified and illustrated hereinwithin modules, and may be embodied in any suitable form and organizedwithin any suitable type of data structure. The operational data may becollected as a single data set, or may be distributed over differentlocations including over different computer readable storage devices.Where a module or portions of a module are implemented in software, thesoftware portions are stored on one or more computer readable storagedevices.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium may be utilized.The computer readable medium may be a computer readable storage medium.The computer readable storage medium may be a storage device storing thecode. The storage device may be, for example, but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, holographic,micromechanical, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing.

More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the storage devicewould include the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory(“RAM”), a read-only memory (“ROM”), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (“EPROM” or Flash memory), a portable compact disc read-onlymemory (“CD-ROM”), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device,or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of thisdocument, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible mediumthat can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Code for carrying out operations for embodiments may be any number oflines and may be written in any combination of one or more programminglanguages including an object oriented programming language such asPython, Ruby, Java, Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and conventionalprocedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language,or the like, and/or machine languages such as assembly languages. Thecode may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (“LAN”) or a wide area network (“WAN”), or theconnection may be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider).

Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature,structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodimentis included in at least one embodiment. Thus, appearances of the phrases“in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughoutthis specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the sameembodiment, but mean “one or more but not all embodiments” unlessexpressly specified otherwise. The terms “including,” “comprising,”“having,” and variations thereof mean “including but not limited to,”unless expressly specified otherwise. An enumerated listing of itemsdoes not imply that any or all of the items are mutually exclusive,unless expressly specified otherwise. The terms “a,” “an,” and “the”also refer to “one or more” unless expressly specified otherwise.

Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics ofthe embodiments may be combined in any suitable manner. In the followingdescription, numerous specific details are provided, such as examples ofprogramming, software modules, user selections, network transactions,database queries, database structures, hardware modules, hardwarecircuits, hardware chips, etc., to provide a thorough understanding ofembodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however,that embodiments may be practiced without one or more of the specificdetails, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. Inother instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are notshown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of anembodiment.

Aspects of the embodiments are described below with reference toschematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams of methods,apparatuses, systems, and program products according to embodiments. Itwill be understood that each block of the schematic flowchart diagramsand/or schematic block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theschematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams, can beimplemented by code. The code may be provided to a processor of ageneral purpose computer, special purpose computer, or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such thatthe instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer orother programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the schematic flowchartdiagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be stored in a storage device that can direct acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devicesto function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored inthe storage device produce an article of manufacture includinginstructions which implement the function/act specified in the schematicflowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams block or blocks.

The code may also be loaded onto a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to cause a series of operationalsteps to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus orother devices to produce a computer implemented process such that thecode which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatusprovide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in theflowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams in theFigures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and operation ofpossible implementations of apparatuses, systems, methods and programproducts according to various embodiments. In this regard, each block inthe schematic flowchart diagrams and/or schematic block diagrams mayrepresent a module, segment, or portion of code, which includes one ormore executable instructions of the code for implementing the specifiedlogical function(s).

It should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, thefunctions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in theFigures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, beexecuted substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionalityinvolved. Other steps and methods may be conceived that are equivalentin function, logic, or effect to one or more blocks, or portionsthereof, of the illustrated Figures.

Although various arrow types and line types may be employed in theflowchart and/or block diagrams, they are understood not to limit thescope of the corresponding embodiments. Indeed, some arrows or otherconnectors may be used to indicate only the logical flow of the depictedembodiment. For instance, an arrow may indicate a waiting or monitoringperiod of unspecified duration between enumerated steps of the depictedembodiment. It will also be noted that each block of the block diagramsand/or flowchart diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and/or flowchart diagrams, can be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or combinations of special purpose hardware and code.

The description of elements in each figure may refer to elements ofproceeding figures. Like numbers refer to like elements in all figures,including alternate embodiments of like elements.

As may be appreciated, TS 36.211 recites: “an antenna port is definedsuch that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port isconveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol onthe same antenna port is conveyed. There is one resource grid perantenna port. The antenna ports used for transmission of a physicalchannel or signal depends on the number of antenna ports configured forthe physical channel or signal.” As used herein, demodulation referencesignal ports may refer to antenna ports on which a demodulationreference signal is conveyed similar to the terminology used in TS38.212.

FIG. 1 depicts an embodiment of a wireless communication system 100 fordownlink assignments for downlink control channels. In one embodiment,the wireless communication system 100 includes remote units 102 andnetwork units 104. Even though a specific number of remote units 102 andnetwork units 104 are depicted in FIG. 1, one of skill in the art willrecognize that any number of remote units 102 and network units 104 maybe included in the wireless communication system 100.

In one embodiment, the remote units 102 may include computing devices,such as desktop computers, laptop computers, personal digital assistants(“PDAs”), tablet computers, smart phones, smart televisions (e.g.,televisions connected to the Internet), set-top boxes, game consoles,security systems (including security cameras), vehicle on-boardcomputers, network devices (e.g., routers, switches, modems), aerialvehicles, drones, or the like. In some embodiments, the remote units 102include wearable devices, such as smart watches, fitness bands, opticalhead-mounted displays, or the like. Moreover, the remote units 102 maybe referred to as subscriber units, mobiles, mobile stations, users,terminals, mobile terminals, fixed terminals, subscriber stations, UE,user terminals, a device, or by other terminology used in the art. Theremote units 102 may communicate directly with one or more of thenetwork units 104 via UL communication signals. The remote units 102 mayalso communicate directly with one or more of the other remote units102.

The network units 104 may be distributed over a geographic region. Incertain embodiments, a network unit 104 may also be referred to as anaccess point, an access terminal, a base, a base station, a Node-B, aneNB, a gNB, a Home Node-B, a relay node, a device, a core network, anaerial server, a radio access node, an AP, NR, a network entity, an AMF,a UDM, a UDR, a UDM/UDR, a PCF, a RAN, an NSSF, or by any otherterminology used in the art. The network units 104 are generally part ofa radio access network that includes one or more controllerscommunicably coupled to one or more corresponding network units 104. Theradio access network is generally communicably coupled to one or morecore networks, which may be coupled to other networks, like the Internetand public switched telephone networks, among other networks. These andother elements of radio access and core networks are not illustrated butare well known generally by those having ordinary skill in the art.

In one implementation, the wireless communication system 100 iscompliant with NR protocols standardized in 3GPP, wherein the networkunit 104 transmits using an OFDM modulation scheme on the DL and theremote units 102 transmit on the UL using a SC-FDMA scheme or an OFDMscheme. More generally, however, the wireless communication system 100may implement some other open or proprietary communication protocol, forexample, WiMAX, IEEE 802.11 variants, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, LTE variants,CDMA2000, Bluetooth®, ZigBee, Sigfoxx, among other protocols. Thepresent disclosure is not intended to be limited to the implementationof any particular wireless communication system architecture orprotocol.

The network units 104 may serve a number of remote units 102 within aserving area, for example, a cell or a cell sector via a wirelesscommunication link. The network units 104 transmit DL communicationsignals to serve the remote units 102 in the time, frequency, and/orspatial domain.

In one embodiment, a remote unit 102 may monitor a first downlinkcontrol channel candidate associated with scheduling a first downlinkdata channel in a first control resource set. In certain embodiments,the remote unit 102 may monitor a second downlink control channelcandidate associated with scheduling a second downlink data channel in asecond control resource set, wherein the first control resource setcomprises a first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second control resource set comprises a second set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols. In variousembodiments, the remote unit 102 may receive at least one downlinkassignment associated with the first downlink control channel candidateor the second downlink control channel candidate. In some embodiments,the remote unit 102 may, in response to the at least one downlinkassignment comprising a first downlink assignment associated with thefirst downlink control channel candidate: determine a first downlinkdata channel allocation comprising resources allocated to a firstdownlink data channel based on the first downlink assignment; determinea first demodulation reference signal symbol location associated withthe first downlink data channel based at least in part on the firstdownlink assignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decode the first downlinkdata channel. In certain embodiments, the remote unit 102 may, inresponse to the at least one downlink assignment comprising a seconddownlink assignment associated with the second downlink control channelcandidate: determine a second downlink data channel allocationcomprising resources allocated to a second downlink data channel basedon the second downlink assignment; determine a second demodulationreference signal symbol location associated with the second downlinkdata channel based at least in part on the second downlink assignment,the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, andthe second set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols;and decode the second downlink data channel. Accordingly, the remoteunit 102 may be used for downlink assignments for downlink controlchannels.

In another embodiment, a remote unit 102 may receive a first indicationcomprising a first search space identity and a second search spaceidentity, wherein the first search space identity and the second searchspace identity are for a set of associated search spaces comprising afirst search space and a second search space. In certain embodiments,the remote unit 102 may determine a first set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions for the first search space. In variousembodiments, the remote unit 102 may determine a second set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions for the second search space. Insome embodiments, the remote unit 102 may determine a third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces, wherein the third set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions comprises a subset of the first downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions and the second set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions, the associated search spacescorrespond to two different control resource sets comprising a firstcontrol resource set and a second control resource set, and wherein:demodulation reference signal ports of the first control resource setare quasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals; demodulationreference signal ports of the second control resource set arequasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals; and the firstset of reference signals and the second set of reference signals aredifferent. In certain embodiments, the remote unit 102 may monitor oneor more downlink control channel candidates in at least one slot of thethird set of monitoring occasions if the one or more downlink controlchannel candidates carry the same downlink control information.Accordingly, the remote unit 102 may be used for downlink assignmentsfor downlink control channels.

FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 200 that may be used fordownlink assignments for downlink control channels. The apparatus 200includes one embodiment of the remote unit 102. Furthermore, the remoteunit 102 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, an input device 206,a display 208, a transmitter 210, and a receiver 212. In someembodiments, the input device 206 and the display 208 are combined intoa single device, such as a touchscreen. In certain embodiments, theremote unit 102 may not include any input device 206 and/or display 208.In various embodiments, the remote unit 102 may include one or more ofthe processor 202, the memory 204, the transmitter 210, and the receiver212, and may not include the input device 206 and/or the display 208.

The processor 202, in one embodiment, may include any known controllercapable of executing computer-readable instructions and/or capable ofperforming logical operations. For example, the processor 202 may be amicrocontroller, a microprocessor, a central processing unit (“CPU”), agraphics processing unit (“GPU”), an auxiliary processing unit, a fieldprogrammable gate array (“FPGA”), or similar programmable controller. Insome embodiments, the processor 202 executes instructions stored in thememory 204 to perform the methods and routines described herein. Invarious embodiments, the processor 202 may: monitor a first downlinkcontrol channel candidate associated with scheduling a first downlinkdata channel in a first control resource set; monitor a second downlinkcontrol channel candidate associated with scheduling a second downlinkdata channel in a second control resource set, wherein the first controlresource set comprises a first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second control resource set comprises asecond set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; inresponse to at least one downlink assignment comprising a first downlinkassignment associated with the first downlink control channel candidate:determine a first downlink data channel allocation comprising resourcesallocated to a first downlink data channel based on the first downlinkassignment; determine a first demodulation reference signal symbollocation associated with the first downlink data channel based at leastin part on the first downlink assignment, the first set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the second set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decode the firstdownlink data channel; and, in response to the at least one downlinkassignment comprising a second downlink assignment associated with thesecond downlink control channel candidate: determine a second downlinkdata channel allocation comprising resources allocated to a seconddownlink data channel based on the second downlink assignment; determinea second demodulation reference signal symbol location associated withthe second downlink data channel based at least in part on the seconddownlink assignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decode the second downlinkdata channel.

In certain embodiments, the processor 202 may: determine a first set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions for the first searchspace; determine a second set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions for the second search space; determine a third set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions corresponding to the associatedsearch spaces, wherein the third set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions comprises a subset of the first downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions and the second set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions, the associated search spaces correspond totwo different control resource sets comprising a first control resourceset and a second control resource set, and wherein: demodulationreference signal ports of the first control resource set arequasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals; demodulationreference signal ports of the second control resource set arequasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals; and the firstset of reference signals and the second set of reference signals aredifferent; and monitor one or more downlink control channel candidatesin at least one slot of the third set of monitoring occasions if the oneor more downlink control channel candidates carry the same downlinkcontrol information. The processor 202 is communicatively coupled to thememory 204, the input device 206, the display 208, the transmitter 210,and the receiver 212.

The memory 204, in one embodiment, is a computer readable storagemedium. In some embodiments, the memory 204 includes volatile computerstorage media. For example, the memory 204 may include a RAM, includingdynamic RAM (“DRAM”), synchronous dynamic RAM (“SDRAM”), and/or staticRAM (“SRAM”). In some embodiments, the memory 204 includes non-volatilecomputer storage media. For example, the memory 204 may include a harddisk drive, a flash memory, or any other suitable non-volatile computerstorage device. In some embodiments, the memory 204 includes bothvolatile and non-volatile computer storage media. In some embodiments,the memory 204 also stores program code and related data, such as anoperating system or other controller algorithms operating on the remoteunit 102.

The input device 206, in one embodiment, may include any known computerinput device including a touch panel, a button, a keyboard, a stylus, amicrophone, or the like. In some embodiments, the input device 206 maybe integrated with the display 208, for example, as a touchscreen orsimilar touch-sensitive display. In some embodiments, the input device206 includes a touchscreen such that text may be input using a virtualkeyboard displayed on the touchscreen and/or by handwriting on thetouchscreen. In some embodiments, the input device 206 includes two ormore different devices, such as a keyboard and a touch panel.

The display 208, in one embodiment, may include any known electronicallycontrollable display or display device. The display 208 may be designedto output visual, audible, and/or haptic signals. In some embodiments,the display 208 includes an electronic display capable of outputtingvisual data to a user. For example, the display 208 may include, but isnot limited to, an LCD display, an LED display, an OLED display, aprojector, or similar display device capable of outputting images, text,or the like to a user. As another, non-limiting, example, the display208 may include a wearable display such as a smart watch, smart glasses,a heads-up display, or the like. Further, the display 208 may be acomponent of a smart phone, a personal digital assistant, a television,a table computer, a notebook (laptop) computer, a personal computer, avehicle dashboard, or the like.

In certain embodiments, the display 208 includes one or more speakersfor producing sound. For example, the display 208 may produce an audiblealert or notification (e.g., a beep or chime). In some embodiments, thedisplay 208 includes one or more haptic devices for producingvibrations, motion, or other haptic feedback. In some embodiments, allor portions of the display 208 may be integrated with the input device206. For example, the input device 206 and display 208 may form atouchscreen or similar touch-sensitive display. In other embodiments,the display 208 may be located near the input device 206.

The transmitter 210 is used to provide UL communication signals to thenetwork unit 104 and the receiver 212 is used to receive DLcommunication signals from the network unit 104, as described herein. Insome embodiments, the receiver 212 receives at least one downlinkassignment associated with a first downlink control channel candidate ora second downlink control channel candidate. In various embodiments, thereceiver 212 receives a first indication comprising a first search spaceidentity and a second search space identity, wherein the first searchspace identity and the second search space identity are for a set ofassociated search spaces comprising a first search space and a secondsearch space.

Although only one transmitter 210 and one receiver 212 are illustrated,the remote unit 102 may have any suitable number of transmitters 210 andreceivers 212. The transmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be anysuitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment, thetransmitter 210 and the receiver 212 may be part of a transceiver.

FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of an apparatus 300 that may be used fortransmitting and/or receiving data and/or information. The apparatus 300includes one embodiment of the network unit 104. Furthermore, thenetwork unit 104 may include a processor 302, a memory 304, an inputdevice 306, a display 308, a transmitter 310, and a receiver 312. As maybe appreciated, the processor 302, the memory 304, the input device 306,the display 308, the transmitter 310, and the receiver 312 may besubstantially similar to the processor 202, the memory 204, the inputdevice 206, the display 208, the transmitter 210, and the receiver 212of the remote unit 102, respectively.

Although only one transmitter 310 and one receiver 312 are illustrated,the network unit 104 may have any suitable number of transmitters 310and receivers 312. The transmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be anysuitable type of transmitters and receivers. In one embodiment, thetransmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be part of a transceiver.

In certain embodiments, such as IIoT applications, some factoryenvironments may suffer from high blocking and/or penetration loss(e.g., due to heavy metal machines, special production settings, and/ordeployment of multi-TRPs). In such embodiments, it may be beneficial toovercome coverage holes and enhance communication reliability.

Described herein are various methods and apparatuses in which a UE mayreceive multiple PDCCHs carrying the same DCI and/or the UE may receivemultiple PDSCHs carrying the same TB from multiple TRPs. Furthermore,described herein are various methods and apparatuses in which a networkentity may indicate to a UE an association corresponding to multiplePDCCHs and/or PDSCHs. Moreover, described herein are various methods andapparatuses in which a UE receives a PDSCH transmission (e.g., includingembodiments in which PDSCH is repeated over multiple consecutive TTIs)if the corresponding PDCCH is transmitted multiple times in a timedomain and/or in a frequency domain (e.g., via multiple TRPs).

In certain embodiments, a UE may not expect two PDCCH monitoringoccasions for a same search space set or for different search space setsin a same control resource set to be separated by a non-zero number ofsymbols that is smaller than the control resource set duration. In otherembodiments, there may be no such restriction for non-overlapping PDCCHmonitoring occasions if a given control resource set is associated withmore than one spatially differentiated downlink reference signals orantenna ports for spatial multiplexing of multiple PDCCHs and if a UE iscapable of receiving multiple spatially multiplexed PDCCHssimultaneously.

In various embodiments, a PDCCH-Config IE may be used to configure UEspecific PDCCH parameters such as CORESETs, search spaces, andadditional parameters for acquiring the PDCCH. As may be appreciated,the search spaces may define how and/or where to search for PDCCHcandidates, and each search space may be associated with one CORESET. Insome embodiments, each CORESET may be semi-statically configured (orotherwise configured) with one or more TCI states, and a MAC CE maydynamically indicate an active TCI state from the configured TCI statesfor the CORESET. In certain embodiments, the TCI states provideinformation on QCL relationships between the DL RS in one RS set andPDCCH DMRS ports. In one embodiment, each CORESET has a configurationparameter tci-PresentInDCI. If at least spatial QCL is configured and/orindicated, the configuration parameter tci-PresentInDCI may indicatewhether a TCI field is present in DL related DCI (e.g., a TCI indicationin DCI to be applied to PDSCH scheduled by the DCI). If theconfiguration parameter tci-PresentInDCI is absent, a UE may consider aTCI field to be absent and/or disabled in DL related DCI.

In some embodiments, if a UE can receive multiple SS/PBCH blocks orCSI-RS resources simultaneously (e.g., on fully or partially overlappingtime-domain resources), the UE may be able to simultaneously receivemultiple PDCCHs, each of which is transmitted by a different TRP. As maybe appreciated, receiving multiple PDCCHs carrying the same DCI contentbut being transmitted by multiple TRPs may increase a rate of successfulDCI delivery due to time, frequency, and/or spatial diversity. Incertain embodiments, if one or more PDCCHs carrying the same DCI contenthave a same CCE aggregation level (e.g., the same or similar channelcoding rate), a UE may soft combine channel bit LLRs to improve adecoding accuracy. In various embodiments, if one or more PDCCHscarrying the same DCI content have different CCE aggregation levels, aUE may soft combine channel bit LLRs in a soft buffer because the DCI isencoded using a same base or mother channel code with a different levelof rate matching resulting in different coded bit sizes corresponding tothe different aggregation levels. In some embodiments, a UE may combineinformation bit LLRs of one or more corresponding PDCCH decoder outputs.In certain embodiments, if a UE is equipped with an advanced receiverperforming iterative decoding and demodulation and two PDCCHs carryingthe same DCI content have the same CCE aggregation level, channel bitextrinsic LLRs of one PDCCH decoder output may be fed to another PDCCHdecoder input as priority information.

In various embodiments, a UE determines a PDCCH monitoring occasion froma PDCCH monitoring periodicity, a PDCCH monitoring offset, and a PDCCHmonitoring pattern within a slot. In some embodiments, for a searchspace set s in a control resource set p, a UE determines that PDCCHmonitoring occasions exists in a slot with number n_(s,f) ^(μ) in aframe with number n_(f) if (n_(f)·N_(slot) ^(frame,μ)+n_(s,f)^(μ)−o_(p,s))modk_(p,s)=0. In certain embodiments, if a UE is provided ahigher layer parameter duration, the UE monitors PDCCH for the searchspace set s in the control resource set p for T_(p,s) consecutive slots,starting from slot n_(s,f) ^(μ), and does not monitor PDCCH for thesearch space set s in the control resource set p for the nextk_(p,s)−T_(p,s) consecutive slots.

In one embodiment, a UE may receive an indication that a given DCIcontent may be delivered via one or more associated search spaces. Theindication may include a set of search space identities for the one ormore associated search spaces. The indication may be signaled in aUE-specific RRC message for UE-specific search spaces and/or in abroadcast system information message for common (e.g., cell-specific)search spaces.

In various embodiments, if one or more associated search spaces includeat least one common slot, a UE blindly decodes one or more PDCCHs in theat least one common slot of the one or more associated search spacesassuming that the one or more PDCCHs in the at least one common slotcarry the same DCI content. In such embodiments, monitoring symbolswithin the at least one common slot are the same or at least overlapping(e.g., in the time-domain) for the one or more associated search spaces.

In certain embodiments, a UE may receive an indication that some or allmonitoring occasions of a first search space are associated with some orall monitoring occasions of a second search space. In such embodiments,the first and second search spaces may be included in one or moreassociated search spaces. In some embodiments, a UE may receiveadditional monitoring slot periodicity indications for first and secondsearch spaces in addition to baseline monitoring slot periodicityindications (e.g., an RRC parameter‘monitoringSlotPeriodicityAndOffset’). In such embodiments, the UE maydetermine associated monitoring occasions. Moreover, the UE may assumeone or more PDCCHs carry the same DCI content based on additionalperiodicity indications. In various embodiments, if additionalmonitoring slot periodicities are indicated, the additional monitoringslot periodicities may be larger than baseline monitoring slotperiodicities. In certain embodiments, a UE may be provided with ahigher layer parameter ‘duration2’ (that is different from a higherlayer parameter ‘duration’) for each associated search space. In variousembodiments, the UE may assume that associated monitoring occasionsoccur for consecutive PDCCH monitoring slots indicated by the parameter‘duration2’. In some embodiments, the UE may assume that one or morePDCCHs carry the same DCI content if the one or more associated searchspaces include a common set of monitoring symbols within a slot and theUE blindly decodes the one or more PDCCHs in at least one common slot ofthe one or more associated search spaces.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate an example of associated monitoring occasionsof two associated search spaces in which the associated monitoringoccasions occur in a same slot but on different symbols of the sameslot.

Specifically, FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating oneembodiment of a first search space 400. The first search space 400includes a PDCCH monitoring periodicity 402 having multiple slots 404(e.g., 6). The first search space 400 includes a first monitoringoccasion 406 and a second monitoring occasion 408.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating one embodiment of asecond search space 500. The second search space 500 includes a PDCCHmonitoring periodicity 502 having multiple slots 504 (e.g., 6). Thesecond search space 500 includes a first monitoring occasion 506. In oneexample, the first search space 400 of FIG. 4 is associated with thesecond search space 500 of FIG. 5, and the second monitoring occasion408 of FIG. 4 is associated with first monitoring occasion 506 of FIG.5. As illustrated, the second monitoring occasion 408 of FIG. 4 occursin the second slot of the PDCCH monitoring periodicity 402 and the firstmonitoring occasion 506 of FIG. 5 occurs in the second slot of the PDCCHmonitoring periodicity 502. Furthermore, as illustrated, the secondmonitoring occasion 408 of FIG. 4 occurs at the beginning of the secondslot of the PDCCH monitoring periodicity 402 and the first monitoringoccasion 506 of FIG. 5 occurs at the end of the second slot of the PDCCHmonitoring periodicity 502. Thus, the associated monitoring occasionsoccur in a same slot (e.g., second slot) but on different symbols of thesame slot.

In some embodiments, associated search spaces are configured with amonitoring periodicity. In such embodiments, the monitoring periodicitymay include a number of DL transmissions and/or repetitions of atransport block (e.g., AggregationfactorDL) if repetitions are used. Incertain embodiments, a UE may not be configured with differentmonitoring periodicities for associated search spaces. In variousembodiments, associated search spaces may have periodicities that are amultiple of one another's periodicities.

In some embodiments, if at least two sets of associated search spacescorrespond to two different CORESETs, a UE may not be expected to beconfigured with an indication enabling a quasi-colocation informationindication field to be present in DCI (e.g., an indication for apresence or absence of a TCI field for DCI format 1_1 transmitted by aPDCCH, a higher layer parameter TCI-PresentInDCI). In such embodiments,a parameter TCI-PresentInDCI=‘enabled’.

In certain embodiments, if at least two sets of associated search spacescorrespond to two different CORESETs of a serving cell, a UE may not beexpected to receive TCI state indications (e.g., via MAC CE) for PDCCHindicating different TCI states (e.g., TCI-StateId or TCI-StateConfiguration) for the CORESETs: a) if the UE monitors PDCCH candidatesfor certain DCI formats (e.g., DCI format 1_0 in the associated searchspaces; and/or (b) if tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for theCORESETs.

In various embodiments, a UE is not expected to be configured withassociated search spaces that all correspond to the same CORESET formulti-TRP PDCCH transmissions (e.g., each TRP corresponds to a differentCORESET). In some embodiments, if a UE is configured with a higher layerparameter tci-PresentInDCI that is set as ‘enabled’ for a CORESETscheduling a PDSCH, the UE assumes that the TCI field is present in theDCI format 1_1 of the PDCCH transmitted on the CORESET. In certainembodiments, if tci-PresentInDCI is not configured for a CORESETscheduling a PDSCH or a PDSCH is scheduled by a DCI format 1_0, fordetermining PDSCH antenna port QCL a UE assumes that a TCI state for thePDSCH is identical to the TCI state applied for the CORESET used for thePDCCH transmission.

In some embodiments, if a gNB uses two or more CORESETs (e.g., CORESET1, and CORESET 2) to schedule a PDSCH (e.g., scheduling DCI is repeatedin multiple CORESETs): 1) if a UE is configured with a higher layerparameter tci-PresentlnDCI that is set as ‘enabled’ for both CORESETs 1and 2 scheduling the PDSCH, the UE assumes the TCI field is present inthe DCI format (e.g., DCI format 1_1) of the PDCCH transmitted onCORESETs 1 and 2 (because the gNB may not know which one of the twoPDCCHs the UE would receive the gNB may use the same TCI field value inboth PDCCHs for the PDSCH); and/or 2) if the UE is configured with thehigher layer parameter tci-PresentInDCI that is set as ‘enabled’ forCORESET 1 and not for CORESET 2 scheduling the PDSCH or iftci-PresentlnDCI is not configured for any of the CORESETs whichschedule the PDSCH, for determining PDSCH antenna port QCL, the UEassumes that the TCI state for the PDSCH is identical to one of thefollowing: a) the TCI state applied for one of the CORESETs used for thePDCCH transmission (the CORESET ID of the one CORESET may be indicatedto the UE via higher layer or physical layer signaling); and/or b) theTCI state applied for any of the CORESETs used for the PDCCHtransmission, wherein all the CORESETs used for the PDCCH transmissionhave the same TCI applied.

In certain embodiments, a UE is configured with a search spaceassociated with a CORESET that has more than one active TCI state at agiven time instance and more than one higher layer parameter‘pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID’ for scrambling PDCCH channel bits beforemodulation. In such embodiments, each ‘pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID’ isassociated with a different active TCI state. In various embodiments,the UE assumes that one or more PDCCHs blindly decoded with differentscrambling identities (e.g., ‘pdcch-DMRS-ScramblingID’) at a givenmonitoring occasion of the search space are associated (e.g., carry thesame DCI content). In one embodiment, a CORESET has two active TCIstates at a given time instance, and a MAC CE carrying a TCI stateindication for UE-specific PDCCH has 24 bits with fields shown in Table1, wherein ‘R’ denotes reserved bits setting to “0” and ‘BWP ID’ and‘Serving Cell ID’ denote a bandwidth part identity of a downlinkbandwidth part and a serving cell identity, respecitvely, for which theMAC CE applies.

TABLE 1 TCI State Indication for UE-Specific PDCCH MAC CE R Serving CellID BWP ID CORESET ID TCI State ID 1 R TCI State ID 2

As may be appreciated, embodiments described herein to determinemonitoring occasions of one or more associated search spaces in which aUE may assume that one or more decoded PDCCHs carry the same DCI contentare also applicable to embodiments in which the UE assumes that the oneor more decoded PDCCHs in the determined monitoring occasions schedulePDSCHs carrying the same TB.

In certain embodiments, similar to multi-TRP PDCCH transmissions (e.g.,in which multiple PDCCHs carrying the same DCI are transmitted bymultiple TRPs), multiple PDSCHs carrying a same TB or TBs may betransmitted by the multiple TRPs to improve a reliability of a UE'sPDSCH reception. In such embodiments, if association of the multiplePDSCHs carrying the same TBs is known to the physical layer, the UE maysoft combine channel bit LLRs or information bit LLRs to improvedecoding accuracy. Furthermore, in some embodiments, a UE may transmitone HARQ-ACK feedback for each TB instead of multiple HARQ-ACK feedbacksfor multiple PDSCHs, thereby saving UE power consumption.

In some embodiments, a UE may receive an indication that a given TB froma network entity may be delivered to the UE via one or more PDSCHs ateach HARQ transmission or re-transmission stage. In such embodiments,the one or more PDSCHs may be scheduled by one or more correspondingPDCCHs or scheduled by one PDCCH.

In various embodiments, a UE receives an indication of one or moreassociated search spaces in which one or more PDCCHs decoded in all orsome monitoring occasions of the one or more associated search spacesschedule one or more PDSCHs carrying the same TB, respectively. In suchembodiments, the UE may determine the monitoring occasions of the one ormore associated search spaces. As may be appreciated, the UE may assumeassociation of one or more decoded PDCCHs as described herein inrelation to various associations.

In certain embodiments, a UE may be semi-statically configured (e.g. viaRRC signaling) with an operating mode of TB duplication for which the UEreceives one or more PDSCHs for a given TB at a given HARQ transmission(or retransmission) stage. In some embodiments, if a UE receivesmultiple PDCCHs carrying a same HARQ process number in DL assignment DCI(e.g., DCI format 1_0 or DCI format 1_1) within a monitoring occasionwindow (e.g., a set of consecutive monitoring occasions) of at least onesearch space, the UE assumes that the multiple PDCCHs schedule multipleassociated PDSCHs carrying the same TBs.

In various embodiments, although a UE decodes multiple associatedPDCCHs, the UE may decode only a subset of corresponding PDSCHs,depending on success or failure of CRC decoding of PDSCHs decodedearlier. In one example, a PDSCH having an earliest starting symbolamong associated PDSCHs is successfully decoded. The UE then stopdecoding other associated PDSCHs. Moreover, the UE sends one or morenegative acknowledgements for one or more TBs only if the UE fails todecode the one or more TBs in all associated PDSCHs scheduled by alldetected associated PDCCHs. Furthermore, the UE sends one or moreacknowledgements for one or more TBs if the UE successfully decodes theone or more TBs in at least one PDSCH of the associated PDSCHs scheduledby the detected associated PDCCHs. In this example, the UE may receiveindications of multiple HARQ-ACK resources with each resourcecorresponding to each PDSCH of the associated PDSCHs. Moreover, the UEmay select a HARQ-ACK resource from the indicated HARQ-ACK resourcesthat has the earliest starting symbol and still provides enough timebudget for UE's processing delay.

In certain embodiments, for improving reliability of PDSCH DL datatransmission, a gNB may repeat the PDSCH DL data transmission multipletimes (e.g., in multiple slots and/or mini-slots), referred to as ‘n’herein. The number of repetitions (e.g., including the initialtransmission) may be configured by higher layer signaling. In someembodiments, a PDSCH-Config IE may be used to configure UE specificPDSCH parameters such as pdsch-AggregationFactor that indicates ‘n’. Asused herein, a PDSCH transmission duration over multiple TTIs isreferred to as a reception window (e.g., a PDSCH reception window).

In some embodiments, if a UE is configured with aggregationFactorDL>1,the same symbol allocation is applied across the aggregationFactorDLconsecutive slots. In such embodiments, the UE may expect that a TB isrepeated within each symbol allocation among each of theaggregationFactorDL consecutive slots and the PDSCH is limited to asingle transmission layer. It should be noted that the parameter ‘n’ isreferred to as aggregationFactorDL in TS 38.214 andpdsch-AggregationFactor in TS 38.331.

In certain embodiments, PDSCH repetitions are enabled by RRCconfiguration. In various embodiments, there may be a field in DCI thatindicates a number of PDSCH transmissions k associated with the DCI,where k>=1. In some embodiments, PDCCH indicates a number of PDSCHtransmissions associated with the PDCCH. As may be appreciated, PDCCHmay or may not be transmitted with a PDSCH repetition. In certainembodiments, PDSCH transmissions may be soft combined after a PDCCH issuccessfully received. In such embodiments, the UE may discard any PDSCHassignment for TTIs in a serving cell with CRC scrambled with C-RNTI ifPDSCH is being received (e.g., by repetition or blind repetition) in theTTIs in the same serving cell.

In various embodiments, a subset of TCI states defined in TCI states areused for providing QCL relationships between the DL RS in one RS set(e.g., TCI state) and the PDCCH DMRS ports. In some embodiments, anetwork configures at most maxNrofTCI-StatesPDCCH entries. In certainembodiments, if a UE has received a MAC CE activation command for oneTCI state, the UE applies the activation command 3 msec after a slot inwhich the UE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH providing theactivation command.

In some embodiments, if a UE has started reception of a PDSCH in areception window, a DCI indicates reception of PDSCH (e.g., the same TB)in multiple TTIs (e.g., slots and/or mini-slots) in the receptionwindow. In such embodiments, the UE does not apply an activation commandin the middle of the reception window. In such embodiments, the UE mayapply the activation command at least 3 msec after a slot in which theUE transmits HARQ-ACK information for the PDSCH providing the activationcommand, and not during a reception window. As may be appreciated, suchan embodiment may be useful if PDCCH scheduling multiple PDSCHrepetitions is transmitted in multiple TTIs and multiple of those PDCCHs(transmitted in different TTIs) may be soft combined.

In certain embodiments, a UE RX beam for PDSCH may be QCLed with the TCIstate indicated in DCI if a time duration between an end of PDCCH and abeginning of PDSCH is longer than the threshold value (e.g., if the UEhas enough time to switch RX beams). In such embodiments, if there isnot enough time to switch RX beams, the UE RX beam may be the same asthe TCI state of PDCCH of the lowest CORESET ID in the latest slot. Inone example, if there is not enough time to switch RX beams, the UE RXbeam is the same as the TCI state of PDCCH of the CORESET in which thePDCCH DCI is received in the latest slot. If there is no QCL configured,the UE RX beam may not be relevant. Thus, a time duration between an endof PDCCH and a beginning of PDSCH may not matter for applying QCLinformation. In some embodiments, given a UE RX beam switching time(e.g., {7, 14, 28} symbols for 60 KHz SCS and {14, 28} symbols for 120KHz SCS), it may be assumed that the UE does not switch RX beams duringreception of PDSCH repeated over consecutive symbols and/or slots.Therefore, in certain embodiments, if there is PDSCH repetition, one ormore of the following may apply during the PDSCH repetition: the UE maynot expect and/or perform a TCI change; the UE is not expected toreceive a PDCCH indicating a TCI change; a gNB is not expected to changethe TCI; and/or the UE is not expected to receive indications ofdifferent values of TCI-Stateld (e.g., identify of a TCI-Stateconfiguration) for PDSCH or different TCI-State configuration for PDSCHin the multiple PDCCH DCI associated with the PDSCH repetitions. In someembodiments, the UE may apply a recently indicated TCI update after anend of a PDSCH repetition window.

In some embodiments, a UE may switch RX beams during reception of PDSCHrepeated over consecutive slots in certain beam change time units (e.g.,every slot or every two slots). For example, if the PDSCH is repeatedover two slots in TTIs having mini-slots units (e.g., a mini-slot TTIcan be four symbols, and PDSCH can be repeated over two slots 6 times—in6 mini-slots), the UE may be able to change its RX beam in the secondslot of the two repetition slot.

In certain embodiments, a UE may get a physical layer signal (e.g., aPDCCH at the beginning of each slot of the PDSCH repetitions for PDSCHrepetition using mini-slot TTIs), to indicate if a TCI needs to beupdated for PDSCH repetitions in TTIs within a slot

In various embodiments, a network may activate and/or deactivateconfigured TCI states for PDSCH of a serving cell by sending a TCIstates activation and/or deactivation command for UE-specific PDSCH MACCE. In some embodiments, configured TCI states for PDSCH may beinitially deactivated upon configuration and after a handover.

In certain embodiments, if there is a TCI state with a TCI state ID ‘i’,this field may indicate an activation and/or deactivation status of theTCI state with TCI state ID ‘i’. If there is not a TCI state with a TCIstate ID ‘i’, a MAC entity may ignore the T_(i) field. In someembodiments, the T_(i) field is set to “1” to indicate that the TCIstate with TCI state ID ‘i’ is to be activated and mapped to a codepointof the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field. In variousembodiments, the T_(i) field is set to “0” to indicate that the TCIstate with TCI state ID ‘i’ is to be deactivated and is not mapped tothe codepoint of the DCI Transmission Configuration Indication field. Incertain embodiments, the codepoint to which the TCI state is mapped isdetermined by its ordinal position among all the TCI states with T_(i)field set to “1” (e.g., the first TCI state with T_(i) field set to “1”may be mapped to the codepoint value 1, second TCI state with T_(i)field set to “1” may be mapped to the codepoint value 2, and so forth).In various embodiments, a maximum number of activated TCI states is 8.

In some embodiments, an activation and/or deactivation MAC CE may changean interpretation (e.g., update a mapping of the TCI state with TCIstate ID to codepoint in the DCI TCI field) of the TCI field in the DCIscheduling the PDSCH. In certain embodiments, a time that a UE appliesthe MAC CE may be dependent on the time that the UE acknowledges thePDSCH carrying the MAC CE plus a certain fixed time (e.g., 3 msec afterthe UE sends the acknowledgment). In various embodiments, a UE is notexpected to change an interpretation of the TCI field in DCI in themiddle of a PDSCH reception window. In certain embodiments, a UE is notexpected to acknowledge an indication that would change a downlink RSset that is used as a QCL reference with a PDSCH in the middle of aPDSCH reception window (e.g., in case of PDSCH repetition over multipleTTIs).

In various embodiments, a UE is not expected to receive indications ofdifferent values of TCI-Stateld (e.g., identify of a TCI-Stateconfiguration) for PDSCH or different TCI state configuration for PDSCHin the multiple PDCCH DCI associated with the PDSCH repetitions. In oneexample, the UE is not expected to receive an indication indicating afirst value of a TCI state ID in a DCI of a first PDCCH associated witha first PDSCH transmission and a second value of TCI state ID in a DCIof a second PDCCH associated with a second PDSCH transmission. In thisexample, the first value is different from the second value. In anotherexample, a first PDCCH is in a first search space and/or first CORESET,and a second PDCCH is in a second search space and/or second CORESET. Ina further example, a first PDCCH is received in a first time instance(e.g., slot and/or mini-slot) and a second PDCCH is received in secondtime instance. The first PDSCH transmission and the second PDSCHtransmission may be overlapping or non-overlapping in time.

In certain embodiments, a network transmits: 1) a first PDCCH in a firstTTI scheduling a PDSCH; and 2) a second PDCCH in a second TTI schedulingthe PDSCH; such that a) the TCI field in the DCI of the first PDCCHindicates an RS set (or beam) that is QCL with the first PDSCH; and b)the DCI of the second PDCCH indicates the RS set (or beam) that is QCLwith the second PDSCH. In such embodiments, as a result that the DCI ofthe first PDCCH may indicate a first TCI field value and the DCI of thesecond PDCCH may indicate a second TCI field value, and the first andthe second TCI field values may be different because of changing theinterpretation of the TCI field in the DCI, but both first and secondPDCCHs point to the same RS set (or beam) or the same TCI-Stateld orTCI-State configuration. If a gNB cannot send the second DCI pointing tothe same RS set, the gNB is not expected to transmit the second PDCCH.

In various embodiments, there may be a field in DCI indicating whetheran updated TCI field interpretation indication by MAC CE (which has notyet been applied by the UE as the time required after sending theacknowledgment for the MAC CE has not yet elapsed) can be applied (ifany) during the duration of PDSCH scheduling or within the PDSCHreception window (e.g., after the first slot/mini-slot PDSCHtransmission). Such embodiments may be useful, for example, if the gNBschedules the UE for multiple TTIs, and sends the PDCCH scheduling theUE in some of the multiple TTIs, and does not know in which TTI the UEwould receive the PDCCH (the number of PDSCH repetitions ‘k’ may bedifferent depending on which TTI of the multiple TTIs with PDCCH thescheduling DCI is correctly received by the UE).

In certain embodiments, for PDSCH mapping type B, a DMRS location may bedependent on a CORESET duration (e.g., span of the CORESET in number ofOFDM symbols). For example, according to TS 38.211: the positions of theDMRS symbols is given by l and, for PDSCH mapping type A, the durationis between the first OFDM symbol of the slot and the last OFDM symbol ofthe scheduled PDSCH resources in the slot, for PDSCH mapping type B, theduration is the number of OFDM symbols of the scheduled PDSCH resourcesas signaled.

For PDSCH mapping type B, if the PDSCH duration is 2, 4, or 7 OFDMsymbols for normal cyclic prefix or 2, 4, 6 OFDM symbols for extendedcyclic prefix, and the PDSCH allocation collides with resources reservedfor a CORESET, l shall be incremented such that the first DM-RS symboloccurs immediately after the CORESET and; if the PDSCH duration is 4symbols, the UE is not expected to receive a DM-RS symbol beyond thethird symbol; if the PDSCH duration is 7 symbols for normal cyclicprefix or 6 symbols for extended cyclic prefix, the UE is not expectedto receive the first DM-RS beyond the fourth symbol, and if oneadditional single-symbol DM-RS is configured, the UE only expects theadditional DM-RS to be transmitted on the 5th or 6th symbol when thefront-loaded DM-RS symbol is in the 1st or 2nd symbol, respectively, ofthe PDSCH duration, otherwise the UE should expect that the additionalDM-RS is not transmitted. if the PDSCH duration is 2 or 4 OFDM symbols,only single-symbol DM-RS is supported.

In certain embodiments, if PDCCH is transmitted in at least two CORESETswith different durations (e.g., the two CORESETS are partiallyoverlapping) or if a UE monitors two CORESETs with different durationsfor scheduling a PDSCH (or transport block), and if the two CORESETscollide with a PDSCH allocation, PDSCH-DMRS location may be determinedbased on the CORESET ending in a later symbol in the slot (e.g., thelarger CORESET duration may end in a later symbol than the smallerduration CORESET). That is, l shall be incremented such that the firstDM-RS symbol occurs immediately after the CORESET ending in the latersymbol. The duration may refer to the time span of the CORSET in casedifferent CORESETs have different subcarrier spacing.

In certain embodiments, PDSCH reception may depend on a CORESET in whichscheduling DCI is received. In various embodiments, if a UE monitorsPDCCH candidates for certain DCI formats (e.g., DCI format 1_0) insearch spaces corresponding to more than one CORESET, one or more of thefollowing solutions may be used if PDSCH reception (e.g., determinationof PDSCH reception parameters) depends on the CORESET in which thescheduling DCI is received: 1) by higher layer signaling, the UE isprovided an indication of which CORESET should be used for determinationof PDSCH reception parameters (e.g., RB numbering starts from the lowestRB of the indicated CORESET); 2) the scheduling DCI may indicate whichCORESET index should be used; 3) the CORESET with lowest and/or highestindex among the CORESETs used for monitoring the scheduling DCI; 4) theCORESET with a fixed CORESET index (e.g., CORESET 0) is used; 5) theCORESET signaled in PBCH is used; and 6) the lowest CORESET index in thelatest slot and/or mini-slot.

In some embodiments, for a PDSCH scheduled with a DCI format 1_0 in anytype of PDCCH common search space, regardless of which bandwidth part isthe active bandwidth part, RB numbering may start from a lowest RB of aCORESET in which the DCI was received. In such embodiments, for a PDSCHscheduled otherwise, if a bandwidth part indicator field is notconfigured in the scheduling DCI, the RB indexing for downlink type 0and type 1 resource allocation is determined within the UE's activebandwidth part. If a bandwidth part indicator field is configured in thescheduling DCI, the RB indexing for downlink type 0 and type 1 resourceallocation is determined within the UE's bandwidth part indicated bybandwidth part indicator field value in the DCI. The UE may upondetection of PDCCH intended for the UE determine first the downlinkcarrier bandwidth part and then the resource allocation within thebandwidth part.

In various embodiments, there may be instances in which PUCCHtransmission (e.g., to provide acknowledgment feedback in response toPDSCH transmissions) is dependent on received PDCCH schedulingcorresponding PDSCH.

In certain embodiments, if a UE is configured with multiple PDCCHreception for a TB in a same CORESET in a same TTI, the PUCCH resource(or a parameter of the PUCCH resource) may be signaled in DCI or byhigher layers or a combination of both (e.g., that would result in thesame PUCCH resource used for HARQ-ACK feedback for the TB irrespectiveof which PDCCH of the multiple PDCCH is correctly received and/ordecoded by the UE).

In some embodiments, if a UE is configured with multiple PDCCH receptionfor a TB in different CORESETs in a same TTI or in different TTIs (e.g.,in embodiments in which PDSCH is repeated in multiple TTIs, and PDCCH isalso transmitted in more than one TTI), one or more of the following mayapply: 1) the PUCCH resource (or a parameter of the PUCCH resource) maybe signaled in DCI or by higher layers or a combination of both; 2) thenumber of CCEs in a control resource set of PDCCH reception (e.g.,N_(CCE,0)) is determined based on one or more of the following methods:a) by higher layer signaling, the UE is indicated which CORESET shouldbe used for determination of the number of CCEs; b) the scheduling DCImay indicate which CORESET index should be used (e.g., in case thePDCCHs carrying the same DCI are linked to each other (i.e., the UEknowing a PDCCH candidate in a first CORESET can determine the linkedPDCCH candidate in another CORESET) and sent in different CORESETs); c)the CORESET with lowest and/or highest index among the CORESETs used formonitoring the scheduling DCI; d) the CORESET with a fixed CORESET index(e.g., CORESET 0) is used; e) the CORESET signaled in PBCH is used;and/or f) the lowest CORESET index in the latest slot and/or mini-slot.

In certain embodiments, if a UE monitors a DCI (e.g., scheduling aPDSCH) with a certain DCI format in multiple CORESETS, the UE is notexpected to determine different (e.g., more than one) PUCCH resourcesfor transmitting the acknowledgement associated with the PDSCH.

In various embodiments, if a UE monitors a DCI (e.g., scheduling aPDSCH) with a certain DCI format in multiple CORESETS with differentnumber of total CCEs, the UE is not expected to be scheduled with PDCCHsresulting in different values of

$\left\lfloor \frac{2 \cdot n_{CCE}}{N_{CCE}} \right\rfloor$

(e.g., the gNB sends either all the PDCCHs assigning the same PDSCH inCCEs starting from a CCE index in the top half of the CCEs of theirCORESETs, or in CCEs starting from a CCE index in the bottom half of theCCEs of their CORESETs). In some embodiments, a gNB, may schedule a UEfor a PDSCH by sending a first PDCCH in a first CORESET and a secondPDCCH in a second CORESET, wherein: a) the starting CCE index of thefirst PDCCH is in the first half of the CCE indices of the first CORESETand the starting CCE index of the second PDCCH is in the first half ofthe CCE indices of the second CORESET; or b) the starting CCE index ofthe first PDCCH is in the second half of the CCE indices of the firstCORESET and the starting CCE index of the second PDCCH is in the secondhalf of the CCE indices of the second CORESET.

In some embodiments, a DCI scheduling a high reliability PDSCH containsa larger bit field for indicating a corresponding PUCCH than the DCIscheduling a regular reliability PDSCH (e.g., 4 bits instead of 3 bitsin DCI is used).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method600 for downlink assignments for downlink control channels. In someembodiments, the method 600 is performed by an apparatus, such as theremote unit 102. In certain embodiments, the method 600 may be performedby a processor executing program code, for example, a microcontroller, amicroprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processing unit, a FPGA, orthe like.

The method 600 may include monitoring 602 a first downlink controlchannel candidate associated with scheduling a first downlink datachannel in a first control resource set. In certain embodiments, themethod 600 includes monitoring 604 a second downlink control channelcandidate associated with scheduling a second downlink data channel in asecond control resource set, wherein the first control resource setcomprises a first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second control resource set comprises a second set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols. In variousembodiments, the method 600 includes receiving 606 at least one downlinkassignment associated with the first downlink control channel candidateor the second downlink control channel candidate. In some embodiments,the method 600 includes, in response to the at least one downlinkassignment comprising a first downlink assignment associated with thefirst downlink control channel candidate: determining 608 a firstdownlink data channel allocation comprising resources allocated to afirst downlink data channel based on the first downlink assignment;determining a first demodulation reference signal symbol locationassociated with the first downlink data channel based at least in parton the first downlink assignment, the first set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the second set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decoding thefirst downlink data channel. In certain embodiments, the method 600includes, in response to the at least one downlink assignment comprisinga second downlink assignment associated with the second downlink controlchannel candidate: determining 610 a second downlink data channelallocation comprising resources allocated to a second downlink datachannel based on the second downlink assignment; determining a seconddemodulation reference signal symbol location associated with the seconddownlink data channel based at least in part on the second downlinkassignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and decoding the second downlink data channel.

In certain embodiments, the first demodulation reference signal symbollocation and the second demodulation reference signal symbol locationare the same location. In some embodiments, at least one of the firstdownlink data channel allocation and the second downlink data channelallocation collides with resources reserved for at least one of thefirst control resource set and the second control resource set. Invarious embodiments, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols have a different number of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols.

In one embodiment, the first downlink data channel allocation and thesecond downlink data channel allocation overlap. In certain embodiments,the method 600 further comprises: determining a control resource set ofthe first control resource set and the second control resource set thatends in a later orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol;determining a first demodulation reference signal symbol associated withthe first downlink data channel that occurs immediately after thecontrol resource set; and determining a second demodulation referencesignal symbol associated with the second downlink data channel thatoccurs immediately after the control resource set.

In some embodiments, the method 600 further comprises determining aphysical uplink control channel resource for sending an acknowledgementin response to the first downlink data channel and the second downlinkdata channel, wherein the physical uplink control channel resource isdetermined based on a frequency location of the at least one downlinkassignment within an associated control resource set, the first controlresource set comprises a first set of control channel elements, and thesecond control resource set comprises a second set of control channelelements.

In various embodiments, the at least one downlink assignment comprisesthe first downlink assignment and the second downlink assignment, andwherein: a first starting control channel element index of the firstdownlink control channel candidate is in a first half of a first controlchannel element index of the first control resource set and a secondstarting control channel element index of the second downlink controlchannel candidate is in a first half of a second control channel elementindex of the second control resource set; or the first starting controlchannel element index is in a second half of the first control channelelement index and the second starting control channel element index isin a second half of the second control channel element index.

In one embodiment, a first number of control channel elements in thefirst set of control channel elements is different from a second numberof control channel elements in the second set of control channelelements. In certain embodiments, the at least one downlink assignmentcomprises the first downlink assignment and the second downlinkassignment, and the physical uplink control channel resource isdetermined based on the frequency location of the first downlinkassignment. In some embodiments, the first downlink assignment and thesecond downlink assignment have the same content.

In various embodiments: the first downlink data channel is associatedwith a first transmission configuration index state and the seconddownlink data channel is associated with a second transmissionconfiguration index state; the first downlink data channel comprises athird set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and thesecond downlink data channel comprises a fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; the first transmissionconfiguration index state and the second transmission configurationindex state are different at least if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols occurs at least ‘w’ orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols after the last orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and wherein ‘w’ is anon-negative number determined by a user equipment; the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state are the same if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols do not occur at least ‘w’orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols after the lastorthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state provide information comprisingquasi-co-location relationships between downlink reference signals inone reference signal set and demodulation reference signal ports of acorresponding downlink data channel.

In one embodiment: the third set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols. In certain embodiments, thefirst control resource set and the second control resource set are thesame, and the first downlink assignment and the second downlinkassignment are the same. In some embodiments, the first transmissionconfiguration index state and the second transmission configurationindex state are different if the third set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols belong to a first slot and thefourth set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols belongto a second slot, the first slot and the second slots are different, anda slot is composed of fourteen consecutive orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols with a predetermined starting orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbol.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart diagram illustrating another embodiment of amethod 700 for downlink assignments for downlink control channels. Insome embodiments, the method 700 is performed by an apparatus, such asthe remote unit 102. In certain embodiments, the method 700 may beperformed by a processor executing program code, for example, amicrocontroller, a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, an auxiliary processingunit, a FPGA, or the like.

The method 700 may include receiving 702 a first indication comprising afirst search space identity and a second search space identity, whereinthe first search space identity and the second search space identity arefor a set of associated search spaces comprising a first search spaceand a second search space. In certain embodiments, the method 700includes determining 704 a first set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions for the first search space. In various embodiments,the method 700 includes determining 706 a second set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions for the second search space. In someembodiments, the method 700 includes determining 708 a third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces, wherein the third set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions comprises a subset of the first downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions and the second set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions, the associated search spacescorrespond to two different control resource sets comprising a firstcontrol resource set and a second control resource set, and wherein:demodulation reference signal ports of the first control resource setare quasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals; demodulationreference signal ports of the second control resource set arequasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals; and the firstset of reference signals and the second set of reference signals aredifferent. In certain embodiments, the method 700 includes monitoring710 one or more downlink control channel candidates in at least one slotof the third set of monitoring occasions if the one or more downlinkcontrol channel candidates carry the same downlink control information.

In certain embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: receiving asecond indication indicating that a transport block of downlink data tobe delivered to a user equipment via one or more downlink sharedchannels at each hybrid automatic repeat request transmission stage;wherein the one or more downlink shared channels are scheduled by one ormore corresponding downlink control channels. In some embodiments, ifthe user equipment receives multiple downlink control channels carryinga same hybrid automatic repeat request process number in the downlinkcontrol information within a monitoring occasion window of at least onesearch space, the user equipment assumes that the multiple downlinkcontrol channels schedule multiple associated downlink shared channelscarrying the same transport block, and the monitoring occasion windowcomprises a set of consecutive monitoring occasions comprising at leastone monitoring occasion selected from the first set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions, the second set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions, and the third set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions.

In various embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: receiving athird indication indicating multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources, wherein each resource of the multiplehybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources corresponds toa downlink shared channel of the associated downlink shared channels;decoding a first downlink shared channel of the associated downlinkshared channel; and, in response to successful decoding of the firstdownlink shared channel: determining a subset of the multiple hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources that occur after aprocessing delay resulting from processing the first downlink sharedchannel; selecting a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresource from the subset of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources that has an earliest starting symbol;and transmitting a positive acknowledgment on the hybrid automaticrepeat request-acknowledgment resource.

In one embodiment, the method 700 further comprises: receiving a fourthindication indicating a monitoring periodicity; and determining thethird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions correspondingto the associated search spaces based on the monitoring periodicity;wherein: the first search space comprises a first monitoring periodicityand the second search space comprises a second monitoring periodicity;and the monitoring periodicity is larger than the first monitoringperiodicity and the second monitoring periodicity.

In certain embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: receiving afifth indication indicating a duration; determining the third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces based on the duration, wherein: the firstsearch space comprises a first monitoring periodicity and a firstduration, and the second search space comprises a second monitoringperiodicity and a second duration; and the duration is different fromthe first duration and the second duration; and monitoring downlinkcontrol channel candidates in the associated search spaces in a numberof consecutive slots indicated by the duration.

In some embodiments, the user equipment is configured to: receive afirst user equipment indication indicating that a transmissionconfiguration index field is present in downlink control channels of thefirst control resource set; and receive a second user equipmentindication indicating that the transmission configuration index field ispresent in downlink control channels of the second control resource set;wherein the transmission configuration index field in a downlink controlchannel provides information on quasi-co-location relationships betweendownlink reference signals in one reference signal set and the downlinkcontrol channel demodulation reference signal ports.

In various embodiments, the method 700 further comprises: monitoring oneor more downlink control channel candidates in a first slot of the firstset of monitoring occasions; monitoring one or more downlink controlchannel candidates in a second slot of the second set of monitoringoccasions; and assuming that the one or more downlink control channelcandidates in the first slot of the first set of monitoring occasionsand the one or more downlink control channel candidates in the secondslot of the second set of monitoring occasions carry the same downlinkcontrol information.

In one embodiment, one or more downlink shared channels are scheduled byone or more corresponding downlink control channels, and the methodfurther comprises: receiving a sixth indication updating aninterpretation of a transmission configuration index field in downlinkdata assignments; and applying the interpretation after a last downlinkshared channel reception corresponding to the one or more downlinkshared channels.

In certain embodiments: the demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set comprise a first set of demodulationreference signal ports and a second set of demodulation reference signalports; the first set of demodulation reference signal ports arequasi-collocated with the first set of reference signals; and the secondset of demodulation reference signal ports are quasi-collocated with athird set of reference signals, and the first and the third sets ofreference signals are different.

In one embodiment, a method comprises: monitoring a first downlinkcontrol channel candidate associated with scheduling a first downlinkdata channel in a first control resource set; monitoring a seconddownlink control channel candidate associated with scheduling a seconddownlink data channel in a second control resource set, wherein thefirst control resource set comprises a first set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the second control resourceset comprises a second set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols; receiving at least one downlink assignment associated with thefirst downlink control channel candidate or the second downlink controlchannel candidate; in response to the at least one downlink assignmentcomprising a first downlink assignment associated with the firstdownlink control channel candidate: determining a first downlink datachannel allocation comprising resources allocated to a first downlinkdata channel based on the first downlink assignment; determining a firstdemodulation reference signal symbol location associated with the firstdownlink data channel based at least in part on the first downlinkassignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and decoding the first downlink data channel; andin response to the at least one downlink assignment comprising a seconddownlink assignment associated with the second downlink control channelcandidate: determining a second downlink data channel allocationcomprising resources allocated to a second downlink data channel basedon the second downlink assignment; determining a second demodulationreference signal symbol location associated with the second downlinkdata channel based at least in part on the second downlink assignment,the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, andthe second set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols;and decoding the second downlink data channel.

In certain embodiments, the first demodulation reference signal symbollocation and the second demodulation reference signal symbol locationare the same location.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first downlink data channelallocation and the second downlink data channel allocation collides withresources reserved for at least one of the first control resource setand the second control resource set.

In various embodiments, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols have a different number of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols.

In one embodiment, the first downlink data channel allocation and thesecond downlink data channel allocation overlap.

In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: determining acontrol resource set of the first control resource set and the secondcontrol resource set that ends in a later orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbol; determining a first demodulation reference signalsymbol associated with the first downlink data channel that occursimmediately after the control resource set; and determining a seconddemodulation reference signal symbol associated with the second downlinkdata channel that occurs immediately after the control resource set.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining a physicaluplink control channel resource for sending an acknowledgement inresponse to the first downlink data channel and the second downlink datachannel, wherein the physical uplink control channel resource isdetermined based on a frequency location of the at least one downlinkassignment within an associated control resource set, the first controlresource set comprises a first set of control channel elements, and thesecond control resource set comprises a second set of control channelelements.

In various embodiments, the at least one downlink assignment comprisesthe first downlink assignment and the second downlink assignment, andwherein: a first starting control channel element index of the firstdownlink control channel candidate is in a first half of a first controlchannel element index of the first control resource set and a secondstarting control channel element index of the second downlink controlchannel candidate is in a first half of a second control channel elementindex of the second control resource set; or the first starting controlchannel element index is in a second half of the first control channelelement index and the second starting control channel element index isin a second half of the second control channel element index.

In one embodiment, a first number of control channel elements in thefirst set of control channel elements is different from a second numberof control channel elements in the second set of control channelelements.

In certain embodiments, the at least one downlink assignment comprisesthe first downlink assignment and the second downlink assignment, andthe physical uplink control channel resource is determined based on thefrequency location of the first downlink assignment.

In some embodiments, the first downlink assignment and the seconddownlink assignment have the same content.

In various embodiments: the first downlink data channel is associatedwith a first transmission configuration index state and the seconddownlink data channel is associated with a second transmissionconfiguration index state; the first downlink data channel comprises athird set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and thesecond downlink data channel comprises a fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; the first transmissionconfiguration index state and the second transmission configurationindex state are different at least if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols occurs at least ‘w’ orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols after the last orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and wherein ‘w’ is anon-negative number determined by a user equipment; the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state are the same if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols do not occur at least ‘w’orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols after the lastorthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state provide information comprisingquasi-co-location relationships between downlink reference signals inone reference signal set and demodulation reference signal ports of acorresponding downlink data channel.

In one embodiment: the third set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols.

In certain embodiments, the first control resource set and the secondcontrol resource set are the same, and the first downlink assignment andthe second downlink assignment are the same.

In some embodiments, the first transmission configuration index stateand the second transmission configuration index state are different ifthe third set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbolsbelong to a first slot and the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols belong to a second slot, thefirst slot and the second slots are different, and a slot is composed offourteen consecutive orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbolswith a predetermined starting orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbol.

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises: a processor that: monitors afirst downlink control channel candidate associated with scheduling afirst downlink data channel in a first control resource set; andmonitors a second downlink control channel candidate associated withscheduling a second downlink data channel in a second control resourceset, wherein the first control resource set comprises a first set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and the secondcontrol resource set comprises a second set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; and a receiver that receives atleast one downlink assignment associated with the first downlink controlchannel candidate or the second downlink control channel candidate;wherein, in response to the at least one downlink assignment comprisinga first downlink assignment associated with the first downlink controlchannel candidate, the processor: determines a first downlink datachannel allocation comprising resources allocated to a first downlinkdata channel based on the first downlink assignment; determines a firstdemodulation reference signal symbol location associated with the firstdownlink data channel based at least in part on the first downlinkassignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbols, and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and decodes the first downlink data channel; andwherein, in response to the at least one downlink assignment comprisinga second downlink assignment associated with the second downlink controlchannel candidate, the processor: determines a second downlink datachannel allocation comprising resources allocated to a second downlinkdata channel based on the second downlink assignment; determines asecond demodulation reference signal symbol location associated with thesecond downlink data channel based at least in part on the seconddownlink assignment, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols, and the second set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; and decodes the second downlinkdata channel.

In certain embodiments, the first demodulation reference signal symbollocation and the second demodulation reference signal symbol locationare the same location.

In some embodiments, at least one of the first downlink data channelallocation and the second downlink data channel allocation collides withresources reserved for at least one of the first control resource setand the second control resource set.

In various embodiments, the first set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols and the second set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols have a different number of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols.

In one embodiment, the first downlink data channel allocation and thesecond downlink data channel allocation overlap.

In certain embodiments, the processor: determines a control resource setof the first control resource set and the second control resource setthat ends in a later orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol;determines a first demodulation reference signal symbol associated withthe first downlink data channel that occurs immediately after thecontrol resource set; and determines a second demodulation referencesignal symbol associated with the second downlink data channel thatoccurs immediately after the control resource set.

In some embodiments, the processor determines a physical uplink controlchannel resource for sending an acknowledgement in response to the firstdownlink data channel and the second downlink data channel, the physicaluplink control channel resource is determined based on a frequencylocation of the at least one downlink assignment within an associatedcontrol resource set, the first control resource set comprises a firstset of control channel elements, and the second control resource setcomprises a second set of control channel elements.

In various embodiments, the at least one downlink assignment comprisesthe first downlink assignment and the second downlink assignment, andwherein: a first starting control channel element index of the firstdownlink control channel candidate is in a first half of a first controlchannel element index of the first control resource set and a secondstarting control channel element index of the second downlink controlchannel candidate is in a first half of a second control channel elementindex of the second control resource set; or the first starting controlchannel element index is in a second half of the first control channelelement index and the second starting control channel element index isin a second half of the second control channel element index.

In one embodiment, a first number of control channel elements in thefirst set of control channel elements is different from a second numberof control channel elements in the second set of control channelelements.

In certain embodiments, the at least one downlink assignment comprisesthe first downlink assignment and the second downlink assignment, andthe physical uplink control channel resource is determined based on thefrequency location of the first downlink assignment.

In some embodiments, the first downlink assignment and the seconddownlink assignment have the same content.

In various embodiments: the first downlink data channel is associatedwith a first transmission configuration index state and the seconddownlink data channel is associated with a second transmissionconfiguration index state; the first downlink data channel comprises athird set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols, and thesecond downlink data channel comprises a fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols; the first transmissionconfiguration index state and the second transmission configurationindex state are different at least if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols occurs at least ‘w’ orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols after the last orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols, and wherein ‘w’ is anon-negative number determined by a user equipment; the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state are the same if the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols do not occur at least ‘w’orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols after the lastorthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbol of the third set oforthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbols; and the firsttransmission configuration index state and the second transmissionconfiguration index state provide information comprisingquasi-co-location relationships between downlink reference signals inone reference signal set and demodulation reference signal ports of acorresponding downlink data channel.

In one embodiment: the third set of orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonal frequency-divisionmultiplexing symbols; and the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols comprises 2, 4, or 7 orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols.

In certain embodiments, the first control resource set and the secondcontrol resource set are the same, and the first downlink assignment andthe second downlink assignment are the same.

In some embodiments, the first transmission configuration index stateand the second transmission configuration index state are different ifthe third set of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbolsbelong to a first slot and the fourth set of orthogonalfrequency-division multiplexing symbols belong to a second slot, thefirst slot and the second slots are different, and a slot is composed offourteen consecutive orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing symbolswith a predetermined starting orthogonal frequency-division multiplexingsymbol.

In one embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a first indicationcomprising a first search space identity and a second search spaceidentity, wherein the first search space identity and the second searchspace identity are for a set of associated search spaces comprising afirst search space and a second search space; determining a first set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions for the first searchspace; determining a second set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions for the second search space; determining a third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces, wherein the third set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions comprises a subset of the first downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions and the second set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions, the associated search spacescorrespond to two different control resource sets comprising a firstcontrol resource set and a second control resource set, and wherein:demodulation reference signal ports of the first control resource setare quasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals; demodulationreference signal ports of the second control resource set arequasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals; and the firstset of reference signals and the second set of reference signals aredifferent; and monitoring one or more downlink control channelcandidates in at least one slot of the third set of monitoring occasionsif the one or more downlink control channel candidates carry the samedownlink control information.

In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving a secondindication indicating that a transport block of downlink data to bedelivered to a user equipment via one or more downlink shared channelsat each hybrid automatic repeat request transmission stage; wherein theone or more downlink shared channels are scheduled by one or morecorresponding downlink control channels.

In some embodiments, if the user equipment receives multiple downlinkcontrol channels carrying a same hybrid automatic repeat request processnumber in the downlink control information within a monitoring occasionwindow of at least one search space, the user equipment assumes that themultiple downlink control channels schedule multiple associated downlinkshared channels carrying the same transport block, and the monitoringoccasion window comprises a set of consecutive monitoring occasionscomprising at least one monitoring occasion selected from the first setof downlink control channel monitoring occasions, the second set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions, and the third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions.

In various embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving a thirdindication indicating multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources, wherein each resource of the multiplehybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources corresponds toa downlink shared channel of the associated downlink shared channels;decoding a first downlink shared channel of the associated downlinkshared channel; and, in response to successful decoding of the firstdownlink shared channel: determining a subset of the multiple hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources that occur after aprocessing delay resulting from processing the first downlink sharedchannel; selecting a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresource from the subset of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources that has an earliest starting symbol;and transmitting a positive acknowledgment on the hybrid automaticrepeat request-acknowledgment resource.

In one embodiment, the method further comprises: receiving a fourthindication indicating a monitoring periodicity; and determining thethird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions correspondingto the associated search spaces based on the monitoring periodicity;wherein: the first search space comprises a first monitoring periodicityand the second search space comprises a second monitoring periodicity;and the monitoring periodicity is larger than the first monitoringperiodicity and the second monitoring periodicity.

In certain embodiments, the method further comprises: receiving a fifthindication indicating a duration; determining the third set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions corresponding to the associatedsearch spaces based on the duration, wherein: the first search spacecomprises a first monitoring periodicity and a first duration, and thesecond search space comprises a second monitoring periodicity and asecond duration; and the duration is different from the first durationand the second duration; and monitoring downlink control channelcandidates in the associated search spaces in a number of consecutiveslots indicated by the duration.

In some embodiments, the user equipment is configured to: receive afirst user equipment indication indicating that a transmissionconfiguration index field is present in downlink control channels of thefirst control resource set; and receive a second user equipmentindication indicating that the transmission configuration index field ispresent in downlink control channels of the second control resource set;wherein the transmission configuration index field in a downlink controlchannel provides information on quasi-co-location relationships betweendownlink reference signals in one reference signal set and the downlinkcontrol channel demodulation reference signal ports.

In various embodiments, the method further comprises: monitoring one ormore downlink control channel candidates in a first slot of the firstset of monitoring occasions; monitoring one or more downlink controlchannel candidates in a second slot of the second set of monitoringoccasions; and assuming that the one or more downlink control channelcandidates in the first slot of the first set of monitoring occasionsand the one or more downlink control channel candidates in the secondslot of the second set of monitoring occasions carry the same downlinkcontrol information.

In one embodiment, one or more downlink shared channels are scheduled byone or more corresponding downlink control channels, and the methodfurther comprises: receiving a sixth indication updating aninterpretation of a transmission configuration index field in downlinkdata assignments; and applying the interpretation after a last downlinkshared channel reception corresponding to the one or more downlinkshared channels.

In certain embodiments: the demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set comprise a first set of demodulationreference signal ports and a second set of demodulation reference signalports; the first set of demodulation reference signal ports arequasi-collocated with the first set of reference signals; and the secondset of demodulation reference signal ports are quasi-collocated with athird set of reference signals, and the first and the third sets ofreference signals are different.

In one embodiment, an apparatus comprises: a receiver that receives afirst indication comprising a first search space identity and a secondsearch space identity, wherein the first search space identity and thesecond search space identity are for a set of associated search spacescomprising a first search space and a second search space; and aprocessor that: determines a first set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions for the first search space; determines a second setof downlink control channel monitoring occasions for the second searchspace; determines a third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces, wherein thethird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions comprises asubset of the first downlink control channel monitoring occasions andthe second set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions, theassociated search spaces correspond to two different control resourcesets comprising a first control resource set and a second controlresource set, and wherein: demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set are quasi-collocated with a first set ofreference signals; demodulation reference signal ports of the secondcontrol resource set are quasi-collocated with a second set of referencesignals; and the first set of reference signals and the second set ofreference signals are different; and monitors one or more downlinkcontrol channel candidates in at least one slot of the third set ofmonitoring occasions if the one or more downlink control channelcandidates carry the same downlink control information.

In certain embodiments: the receiver receives a second indicationindicating that a transport block of downlink data to be delivered tothe apparatus via one or more downlink shared channels at each hybridautomatic repeat request transmission stage; and the one or moredownlink shared channels are scheduled by one or more correspondingdownlink control channels.

In some embodiments, if the apparatus receives multiple downlink controlchannels carrying a same hybrid automatic repeat request process numberin the downlink control information within a monitoring occasion windowof at least one search space, the apparatus assumes that the multipledownlink control channels schedule multiple associated downlink sharedchannels carrying the same transport block, and the monitoring occasionwindow comprises a set of consecutive monitoring occasions comprising atleast one monitoring occasion selected from the first set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions, the second set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions, and the third set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions.

In various embodiments, the apparatus further comprises a transmitter,wherein: the receiver receives a third indication indicating multiplehybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources, wherein eachresource of the multiple hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresources corresponds to a downlink shared channel of the associateddownlink shared channels; the processor decodes a first downlink sharedchannel of the associated downlink shared channel; and, in response tosuccessful decoding of the first downlink shared channel: the processordetermines a subset of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources that occur after a processing delayresulting from processing the first downlink shared channel; theprocessor selects a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresource from the subset of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources that has an earliest starting symbol;and the transmitter transmits a positive acknowledgment on the hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgment resource.

In one embodiment, the receiver receives a fourth indication indicatinga monitoring periodicity; and the processor determines the third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces based on the monitoring periodicity; wherein:the first search space comprises a first monitoring periodicity and thesecond search space comprises a second monitoring periodicity; and themonitoring periodicity is larger than the first monitoring periodicityand the second monitoring periodicity.

In certain embodiments: the receiver receives a fifth indicationindicating a duration; the processor determines the third set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions corresponding to theassociated search spaces based on the duration, wherein: the firstsearch space comprises a first monitoring periodicity and a firstduration, and the second search space comprises a second monitoringperiodicity and a second duration; and the duration is different fromthe first duration and the second duration; and the processor monitorsdownlink control channel candidates in the associated search spaces in anumber of consecutive slots indicated by the duration.

In some embodiments, the apparatus is configured to: receive a firstuser equipment indication indicating that a transmission configurationindex field is present in downlink control channels of the first controlresource set; and receive a second user equipment indication indicatingthat the transmission configuration index field is present in downlinkcontrol channels of the second control resource set; wherein thetransmission configuration index field in a downlink control channelprovides information on quasi-co-location relationships between downlinkreference signals in one reference signal set and the downlink controlchannel demodulation reference signal ports.

In various embodiments, the processor: monitors one or more downlinkcontrol channel candidates in a first slot of the first set ofmonitoring occasions; monitors one or more downlink control channelcandidates in a second slot of the second set of monitoring occasions;and assumes that the one or more downlink control channel candidates inthe first slot of the first set of monitoring occasions and the one ormore downlink control channel candidates in the second slot of thesecond set of monitoring occasions carry the same downlink controlinformation.

In one embodiment, one or more downlink shared channels are scheduled byone or more corresponding downlink control channels, and: the receiverreceives a sixth indication updating an interpretation of a transmissionconfiguration index field in downlink data assignments; and theprocessor applies the interpretation after a last downlink sharedchannel reception corresponding to the one or more downlink sharedchannels.

In certain embodiments: the demodulation reference signal ports of thefirst control resource set comprise a first set of demodulationreference signal ports and a second set of demodulation reference signalports; the first set of demodulation reference signal ports arequasi-collocated with the first set of reference signals; and the secondset of demodulation reference signal ports are quasi-collocated with athird set of reference signals, and the first and the third sets ofreference signals are different.

Embodiments may be practiced in other specific forms. The describedembodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrativeand not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore, indicatedby the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. Allchanges which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of theclaims are to be embraced within their scope.

1. A method comprising: receiving a first indication comprising a firstsearch space identity and a second search space identity, wherein thefirst search space identity and the second search space identity are fora set of associated search spaces comprising a first search space and asecond search space; determining a first set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions for the first search space; determining a secondset of downlink control channel monitoring occasions for the secondsearch space; determining a third set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions corresponding to the associated search spaces,wherein the third set of downlink control channel monitoring occasionscomprises a subset of the first downlink control channel monitoringoccasions and the second set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions, the associated search spaces correspond to two differentcontrol resource sets comprising a first control resource set and asecond control resource set, and wherein: demodulation reference signalports of the first control resource set are quasi-collocated with afirst set of reference signals; demodulation reference signal ports ofthe second control resource set are quasi-collocated with a second setof reference signals; and the first set of reference signals and thesecond set of reference signals are different; and monitoring one ormore downlink control channel candidates in at least one slot of thethird set of monitoring occasions if the one or more downlink controlchannel candidates carry the same downlink control information.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a second indicationindicating that a transport block of downlink data to be delivered to auser equipment via one or more downlink shared channels at each hybridautomatic repeat request transmission stage; wherein the one or moredownlink shared channels are scheduled by one or more correspondingdownlink control channels.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein if the userequipment receives multiple downlink control channels carrying a samehybrid automatic repeat request process number in the downlink controlinformation within a monitoring occasion window of at least one searchspace, the user equipment assumes that the multiple downlink controlchannels schedule multiple associated downlink shared channels carryingthe same transport block, and the monitoring occasion window comprises aset of consecutive monitoring occasions comprising at least onemonitoring occasion selected from the first set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions, the second set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions, and the third set of downlink control channelmonitoring occasions.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:receiving a third indication indicating multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources, wherein each resource of the multiplehybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources corresponds toa downlink shared channel of the associated downlink shared channels;decoding a first downlink shared channel of the associated downlinkshared channel; and in response to successful decoding of the firstdownlink shared channel: determining a subset of the multiple hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources that occur after aprocessing delay resulting from processing the first downlink sharedchannel; selecting a hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresource from the subset of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources that has an earliest starting symbol;and transmitting a positive acknowledgment on the hybrid automaticrepeat request-acknowledgment resource.
 5. The method of claim 1,further comprising: receiving a fourth indication indicating amonitoring periodicity; and determining the third set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions corresponding to the associatedsearch spaces based on the monitoring periodicity; wherein: the firstsearch space comprises a first monitoring periodicity and the secondsearch space comprises a second monitoring periodicity; and themonitoring periodicity is larger than the first monitoring periodicityand the second monitoring periodicity.
 6. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: receiving a fifth indication indicating a duration;determining the third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces based on theduration, wherein: the first search space comprises a first monitoringperiodicity and a first duration, and the second search space comprisesa second monitoring periodicity and a second duration; and the durationis different from the first duration and the second duration; andmonitoring downlink control channel candidates in the associated searchspaces in a number of consecutive slots indicated by the duration. 7.The method of claim 2, wherein the user equipment is configured to:receive a first user equipment indication indicating that a transmissionconfiguration index field is present in downlink control channels of thefirst control resource set; and receive a second user equipmentindication indicating that the transmission configuration index field ispresent in downlink control channels of the second control resource set;wherein the transmission configuration index field in a downlink controlchannel provides information on quasi-co-location relationships betweendownlink reference signals in one reference signal set and the downlinkcontrol channel demodulation reference signal ports.
 8. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: monitoring one or more downlink controlchannel candidates in a first slot of the first set of monitoringoccasions; monitoring one or more downlink control channel candidates ina second slot of the second set of monitoring occasions; and assumingthat the one or more downlink control channel candidates in the firstslot of the first set of monitoring occasions and the one or moredownlink control channel candidates in the second slot of the second setof monitoring occasions carry the same downlink control information. 9.The method of claim 8, wherein one or more downlink shared channels arescheduled by one or more corresponding downlink control channels, andthe method further comprises: receiving a sixth indication updating aninterpretation of a transmission configuration index field in downlinkdata assignments; and applying the interpretation after a last downlinkshared channel reception corresponding to the one or more downlinkshared channels.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein: the demodulationreference signal ports of the first control resource set comprise afirst set of demodulation reference signal ports and a second set ofdemodulation reference signal ports; the first set of demodulationreference signal ports are quasi-collocated with the first set ofreference signals; and the second set of demodulation reference signalports are quasi-collocated with a third set of reference signals, andthe first and the third sets of reference signals are different.
 11. Anapparatus comprising: a receiver that receives a first indicationcomprising a first search space identity and a second search spaceidentity, wherein the first search space identity and the second searchspace identity are for a set of associated search spaces comprising afirst search space and a second search space; and a processor that:determines a first set of downlink control channel monitoring occasionsfor the first search space; determines a second set of downlink controlchannel monitoring occasions for the second search space; determines athird set of downlink control channel monitoring occasions correspondingto the associated search spaces, wherein the third set of downlinkcontrol channel monitoring occasions comprises a subset of the firstdownlink control channel monitoring occasions and the second set ofdownlink control channel monitoring occasions, the associated searchspaces correspond to two different control resource sets comprising afirst control resource set and a second control resource set, andwherein: demodulation reference signal ports of the first controlresource set are quasi-collocated with a first set of reference signals;demodulation reference signal ports of the second control resource setare quasi-collocated with a second set of reference signals; and thefirst set of reference signals and the second set of reference signalsare different; and monitors one or more downlink control channelcandidates in at least one slot of the third set of monitoring occasionsif the one or more downlink control channel candidates carry the samedownlink control information.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein:the receiver receives a second indication indicating that a transportblock of downlink data to be delivered to the apparatus via one or moredownlink shared channels at each hybrid automatic repeat requesttransmission stage; and the one or more downlink shared channels arescheduled by one or more corresponding downlink control channels. 13.The apparatus of claim 12, wherein if the apparatus receives multipledownlink control channels carrying a same hybrid automatic repeatrequest process number in the downlink control information within amonitoring occasion window of at least one search space, the apparatusassumes that the multiple downlink control channels schedule multipleassociated downlink shared channels carrying the same transport block,and the monitoring occasion window comprises a set of consecutivemonitoring occasions comprising at least one monitoring occasionselected from the first set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions, the second set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions, and the third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions.
 14. The apparatus of claim 12, further comprising atransmitter, wherein: the receiver receives a third indicationindicating multiple hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgmentresources, wherein each resource of the multiple hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resources corresponds to a downlink sharedchannel of the associated downlink shared channels; the processordecodes a first downlink shared channel of the associated downlinkshared channel; and in response to successful decoding of the firstdownlink shared channel: the processor determines a subset of themultiple hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources thatoccur after a processing delay resulting from processing the firstdownlink shared channel; the processor selects a hybrid automatic repeatrequest-acknowledgment resource from the subset of the multiple hybridautomatic repeat request-acknowledgment resources that has an earlieststarting symbol; and the transmitter transmits a positive acknowledgmenton the hybrid automatic repeat request-acknowledgment resource.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein: the receiver receives a fourthindication indicating a monitoring periodicity; and the processordetermines the third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces based on themonitoring periodicity; wherein: the first search space comprises afirst monitoring periodicity and the second search space comprises asecond monitoring periodicity; and the monitoring periodicity is largerthan the first monitoring periodicity and the second monitoringperiodicity.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein: the receiverreceives a fifth indication indicating a duration; the processordetermines the third set of downlink control channel monitoringoccasions corresponding to the associated search spaces based on theduration, wherein: the first search space comprises a first monitoringperiodicity and a first duration, and the second search space comprisesa second monitoring periodicity and a second duration; and the durationis different from the first duration and the second duration; and theprocessor monitors downlink control channel candidates in the associatedsearch spaces in a number of consecutive slots indicated by theduration.
 17. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the apparatus isconfigured to: receive a first user equipment indication indicating thata transmission configuration index field is present in downlink controlchannels of the first control resource set; and receive a second userequipment indication indicating that the transmission configurationindex field is present in downlink control channels of the secondcontrol resource set; wherein the transmission configuration index fieldin a downlink control channel provides information on quasi-co-locationrelationships between downlink reference signals in one reference signalset and the downlink control channel demodulation reference signalports.
 18. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processor: monitorsone or more downlink control channel candidates in a first slot of thefirst set of monitoring occasions; monitors one or more downlink controlchannel candidates in a second slot of the second set of monitoringoccasions; and assumes that the one or more downlink control channelcandidates in the first slot of the first set of monitoring occasionsand the one or more downlink control channel candidates in the secondslot of the second set of monitoring occasions carry the same downlinkcontrol information.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein one or moredownlink shared channels are scheduled by one or more correspondingdownlink control channels, and: the receiver receives a sixth indicationupdating an interpretation of a transmission configuration index fieldin downlink data assignments; and the processor applies theinterpretation after a last downlink shared channel receptioncorresponding to the one or more downlink shared channels.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 11, wherein: the demodulation reference signal portsof the first control resource set comprise a first set of demodulationreference signal ports and a second set of demodulation reference signalports; the first set of demodulation reference signal ports arequasi-collocated with the first set of reference signals; and the secondset of demodulation reference signal ports are quasi-collocated with athird set of reference signals, and the first and the third sets ofreference signals are different.